


'65 Mustang

by WrathoftheStag



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Car repair, Jack buys an old car, M/M, Mechanics, Vintage Cars, a 1965 mustang to be exact, just jack and his car, no big whoop, teeny character study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 16:06:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19406722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrathoftheStag/pseuds/WrathoftheStag
Summary: Jack Zimmermann was never one of those “dudes” that got into cars. So when he found himself at Shitty’s neighborhood's vintage car show, he couldn’t understand why he stood there staring.Jack buys an old car and fixes it up.





	'65 Mustang

Jack Zimmermann was never one of those “dudes” that got into cars. A car was a mode of transportation; a means to get from point A to point B. And while he enjoyed a nice car—who didn’t love new car smell?—it was never something he had any interest in obsessing over. As such, he was never into muscle cars, American heavy metal, or any of that nonsense. So when he found himself at Shitty’s neighborhood's vintage car show, he couldn’t understand why he stood there staring.

A 1965 Mustang in what the owner called “candy apple red.” 

With a For Sale sign.

“Brah, I know that look. Holy shit,” Shitty laughed and then took a lick of his soft serve cone.

Jack shrugged. “It’s nice.”

“This one has a 289 cubic inch V-8 engine instead of the 200," the man selling the car said. 

Of course, it was all gibberish to Jack, so all he could say was, “Nice.”

Shitty smirked as Jack walked around and the car. That smirk evolved into a full-on shit-eating-grin as Jack walked away from that car show owning a car he knew absolutely nothing about. A car that needed work, a car that in his mind he was already calling Pomme. _Crisse_ , he had named his car.

**+++**

“You bought a what?” Bitty asked with a facial expression Jack couldn’t quite make out.

“I bought a car. A vintage one.”

“I thought y’all were just looking at cars… like for fun,” Bitty said.

Jack felt his face burn, and he scrubbed the back of his neck. He sat down next to Bitty in their new living room and helped Bitty unpack their cookware. The back screen door was open as the early summer breeze wafted through the room, softly billowing the curtains. Jack carefully unwrapped a glass dish and placed the newspaper on the floor.

“Are you mad?” he asked softly.

“Mad? Honey, no,” Bitty said with a smile. “It’s just very unlike you. You’re a list maker when it comes to big purchases. You’re Mister Pros and Cons. This is just a very spontaneous purchase, that’s all. I didn’t even know you liked cars like that.”

Jack placed a collection of measuring cups on the coffee table.

“There was just something about it, Bits. I don’t know. The owner said it needs some work, but it runs for the most part. Just picture us, driving to Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard—Pomme sitting on the ferry.”

“Pomme is it?” Bitty said with a soft chuckle.

“I, euh, named it.”

Bitty rolled his eyes fondly as he inhaled and placed a hand on his chest.

“Lord, you’re cute. So, I guess you have to find a mechanic that specializes in old cars, huh?”

“I was thinking that… maybe I’d do it?”

Bitty stopped mid-unwrap. “You?”

“Sure, I could look up some YouTube videos, maybe take a class at the community college. I have time this summer. The tow truck is bringing it in tomorrow.”

“Well, we do have a garage now and plenty of room in the driveway. Just don’t be getting any oil stains on my driveway, Zimmermann.”

Jack smiled and dipped in to press a kiss to Bitty’s lips, which Bitty instantly deepened. A sheet of newspaper rippled its way across the room as the two made their way entirely down onto the living room floor.

**+++**

Bob whistled. 

“I remember when I first saw one of these. I was eight, and that’s when I really understood what coveting was.”

He ran his hands across the just-washed hood.

“She’s a beaut, son, but I’ve gotta tell you… you have a lot of work ahead of you.”

“Well, Mack, the previous owner, had the wiring worked on not too long ago, and luckily, there’s no rust anywhere, which I read is the most common problem with Mustangs. He lived in Florida, so no snow, and--”

Bob smiled. “Looks like you’ve done some research.”

Jack wiped his hands on his shop towel and grinned. “Bits said I went in 110% in true Jack Zimmermann style.”

Jack looked at Pomme.

“From everything I’ve read and seen online, it looks like I can get her in 100% restorable to stock condition without having to do much, if any, metal work.”

“The grill is ready for a certain Canadian man fellow to come in and get these steaks going,” Bitty called from the front door.

“Oops! Duty calls,” Bob said as he clapped Jack on the back.

Jack smiled and wiped down Pomme’s hood once more before he went back inside.

**+++**

“Anyone home?” Bitty called out.

Jack glanced over and could see Bitty’s sandal-clad feet standing next to the front tires. Jack had spent the last half hour trying to get to the power steering lines behind the left front wheel. The tiny leak was driving him bonkers, but instead of feeling frustrated, there was something very Zen about working on Pomme. This was the first time, in a very long time, Jack had allowed himself to like something, really like something, just for its own sake. 

When he was seven, he was obsessed with his LEGO Technic set. He would build complex LEGO cars with gears and wheels and would spend hours tinkering. His hands busy, his mind quiet. This was outside of hockey and offered him time in his own head where he could think what he wanted, do as he pleased. There were no expectations, no quotas to be met, no demands made. It was fun, pure and simple. Working on Pomme brought back so many of those old feelings for Jack.

He shimmied out from under the car and was greeted by a smiling Bitty holding a glass of sweet tea. The condensation from the glass ran down Bitty’s hand.

Bitty sighed.

“What? What is it?” Jack asked.

“It’s unfair how damn hot you are. Didn’t ever think a mechanic would do it for me, but here we are. Consider my engine revved.”

“Haha.”

Jack sat up, and Bitty eased down next to him. 

“You in a white tank top, grease smudged on your face—it’s definitely a look,” Bitty said with an eyebrow waggle.

Jack took a long gulp of tea.

“As long as I don’t get any oil stains on your driveway, right, Bits?” he said with a grin.

“You got that right,” Bitty said and nudged Jack’s shoulder with his own. “How much longer you gonna be?”

“Maybe another hour or two?” Jack drained the rest of the tea and handed Bitty the glass.

“See you inside,” Bitty said and planted a fat kiss on Jack’s mouth.

Jack smiled and watched his cute husband walk back into their house.

**+++**

“Consider it an early birthday present, man.”

Jack smiled as he held the box with an enormous sloppily tied ribbon on it. 

“Shits, you shouldn’t have.”

“Oh, it’s nothing—like, really, truly. I saw it and thought you fucking needed it.”

Bitty and Lardo walked into the living room.

“Ooo, what did you get, sweetpea?” 

Lardo smiled, “It’s killer.”

Jack opened the box and laughed when he saw what was in it. It was a pair of fuzzy red dice.

“It’s for your rear view mirror.”

“Yeah, I got that. Thanks, Shits.”

“All right,” Lardo called out as she set up the _Sorry!_ board. “I’m green. Let’s get this game started.”

**+++**

Bitty was locking up the bakery, when he turned toward the street, presumably because of the noisy engine.

“Excuse me, stranger, would you be interested in a ride?” 

Bitty jumped up and down. 

“Honey! You finished it!” 

He raced over toward the car, and Jack jumped out to open the door.

“Allow me, Bits,” he said with a smile.

“Well, a hot car and a gentleman. Who can refuse?”

Bitty slid in, and Jack walked around to get back into the driver’s seat. He reached over to pull Bitty closer for a kiss. 

“Look in the back seat,” Jack said against Bitty’s lips.

Bitty turned and found a picnic basket sitting there.

“Oh!”

“I thought we could go to Sabin Point?”

The season was just around the corner, and Jack was squeezing every last bit of summer out of it before hockey filled his life once again. He was so happy with his new house, his new car, and his new life. Bitty and him, forever and ever. And at that moment, all he wanted to do was take his love and his car, eat some fried chicken and watch the sunset. Of course, he could also be persuaded to make out in the back seat.

“Really?” Bitty asked, eyes dancing across Jack’s face.

“Sure, Bits. Let’s go.”

Jack turned the key, revved the engine and winked at Bitty as he pulled away from the curb.

**Author's Note:**

> True story, when I was born, I was brought home from the hospital in a candy apple red [1965 Mustang](https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/attachments/2-jpg.126351/).
> 
> Come and say hi [on Tumblr](http://wrathofthestag.tumblr.com/)
> 
> All OMGCP characters belong to Ngozi. <3


End file.
